F-35 Joint Strike Fighter

[asianobserve]

I would rather have stealth UCAVs than F-35. Far cheaper, safer and just as strike effective.

Well France can't have F35-like jets because the development cost for it would be prohibitive and not many countries will JV with it in developing such platforms. So you can only salivate at the F35 as Dassault can only dream of developing it... Not good for the French ego. The only alternative is what you're doing, belittling this jet while elevating to high heavens the already obsolete Rafale.

 

[nitesh]

China's Role In JSF's Spiraling Costs | AVIATION WEEK

Moreover, senior Pentagon and industry officials say other classified weapon programs are suffering from the same problem. Before the intrusions were discovered nearly three years ago, Chinese hackers actually sat in on what were supposed to have been secure, online program-progress conferences, the officials say.

The full extent of the connection is still being assessed, but there is consensus that escalating costs, reduced annual purchases and production stretch-outs are a reflection to some degree of the need for redesign of critical equipment. Examples include specialized communications and antenna arrays for stealth aircraft, as well as significant rewriting of software to protect systems vulnerable to hacking.

It is only recently that U.S. officials have started talking openly about how data losses are driving up the cost of military programs and creating operational vulnerabilities, although claims of a large impact on the Lockheed Martin JSF are drawing mixed responses from senior leaders. All the same, no one is saying there has been no impact.

While claiming ignorance of details about effects on the stealth strike aircraft program, James Clapper, director of national intelligence, says that Internet technology has "led to egregious pilfering of intellectual capital and property. The F-35 was clearly a target," he confirms. "Clearly the attacks . . . whether from individuals or nation-states are a serious challenge and we need to do something about it."

The F-35 issue was ducked as well by David Shedd, deputy director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, but not the impact of cybertheft on defense spending and operational security.

"I am not going to talk about the F-35, Shedd says. "I'd be sitting with the secretary having a counseling session. The answer is absolutely yes. The leaks have hurt our efforts in that it gives the adversary an advantage in having insights into what we're doing. It should be clear that whether there are leaks on the technology side or that affect preemptive decision-making, they are very damaging to the intelligence community."

In July 2011, then-Deputy Defense Secretary William Lynn pointed out that a foreign intelligence agency had victimized a major defense contractor and extracted 24,000 files concerning a developmental system. That is important because a decision to redesign a compromised system depends on whether the lost information would help the intruder develop similar systems and generate methods of attack and defense. Some U.S. officials have pegged the costs at tens of billions of dollars.

The F-35 program may have been vulnerable because of its lengthy development. Defense analysts note that the JSF's information system was not designed with cyberespionage, now called advanced persistent threat, in mind. Lockheed Martin officials now admit that subcontractors (6-8 in 2009 alone, according to company officials) were hacked and "totally compromised." In fact, the stealth fighter program probably has the biggest "attack surface" or points that can be attacked owing to the vast number of international subcontractors.

There also is the issue of unintended consequences. The 2009 hacking was apparently not aimed at the F-35 but rather at a classified program. However, those accidental results were spectacular. Not only could intruders extract data, but they became invisible witnesses to online meetings and technical discussions, say veteran U.S. aerospace industry analysts. After the break-in was discovered, the classified program was halted and not restarted until a completely new, costly and cumbersome security system was in place.

 

[Armand2REP]

Well France can't have F35-like jets because the development cost for it would be prohibitive and not many countries will JV with it in developing such platforms. So you can only salivate at the F35 as Dassault can only dream of developing it... Not good for the French ego. The only alternative is what you're doing, belittling this jet while elevating to high heavens the already obsolete Rafale.

REALLY? Saying that France is jealous of not joining the F-35 nightmare is like saying France is jealous of not joining the invasion of Iraq.

 

[asianobserve]

REALLY? Saying that France is jealous of not joining the F-35 nightmare is like saying France is jealous of not joining the invasion of Iraq.

Well, if the overzealous attitude of Sarko and French politicians in intervening in some low threat African country (that is Lybia BTW) is to go by, the French are indeed suffering from an enormous Iraq-invasion envy... Let's see if France can intervene alone in Syria..?

 

[Armand2REP]

duplicate.

 

[Armand2REP]

We had no casualties in Libya, you had 33,000 plus 4,500 dead in Iraq. Was it worth that and a $1 trillion? Hell no... The best nation building which is to let them do it themselves.

 

[Zebra]

Why the development cost is so high for JSF ?
F-22 is better aircraft . So did US spent more $ to develop F-22 ? and that is by it's own , no partners .
I think the partners of JSF , got ripped off by US in JSF project , in the name of high development costs .

 

[asianobserve]

We had no casualties in Libya, you had 33,000 plus 4,500 dead in Iraq. Was it worth that and a $1 trillion? Hell no... The best nation building which is to let them do it themselves.

What? We had "0" casualties in that invasion, we condemned it in case you were in Mars in 2003. My mother's country sent troops (largely ceremonial) but they did not have casualties either.

BTW, in Lybia France was only the tip of the iceberg. The submerged part and the real goliath in the room was still the US. I can only imagine how Sarko pleaded Pres. Obama not to send anyone of their Nimitz class to the area so as not to dwarf the De Gaulle - French ego on feigned triumph....

 

[wrigsted]

I would rather have stealth UCAVs than F-35. Far cheaper, safer and just as strike effective.

Yes, I think people here underestimate what will happen with UCAV's and how they will phase out manned jet fighter. It will not make any sense to have a person sitting in the machine, it will only make it less maneuverable and more vulnerable. Think of how new technology is and how far it has come in so little time! With a new generation of engineers and technicians (Asia will have a volume with an education level never seen before) who grew up with UCAV's. When they actually get to think the technical problems through, it is a farewell to manned jet fighter.
It will probably happen within the next 10-15 years, it's not the same production time when you do not need to worry about your pilot at each test flight.

 

[Armand2REP]

USAF cancels AMRAAM replacement

USAF cancels AMRAAM replacement

Too bad they never bothered to fit METEOR to it.

 

[Armand2REP]

Problems With Motor Slow U.S. AMRAAM Buys

"They're behind on the delivery of the missile," David Van Buren said Feb. 14 of the Raytheon-produced system. "There are problems with the motor"... the weapons can't be produced in quantity due to a high rejection rate for the rocket motors being built.

Problems With Motor Slow U.S. AMRAAM Buys | Defense News | defensenews.com

 

[asianobserve]

F-35 Naval Variants Commence Weapons Testing | Aviation & Air Force News at DefenceTalk

 

[Zebra]

F-35 Begins Flight Tests Equipped With External Missiles

Feb. 20, 2012 - 01:30PM | By DAVE MAJUMDAR

An F-35A version of the Joint Strike Fighter is seen during testing at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. (Paul Weatherman / Lockheed Martin)

The U.S. Air Force's F-35A version of the tri-service Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) has begun flight testing with external stores at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., plane-maker Lockheed Martin said Feb. 20.

The JSF test force flew a plane loaded with two AIM-9X short-range air-to-air missiles, each carried on an external pylon. Additionally, the jet carried two 2,000-pound bombs and two AIM-120 radar-guided air-to-air missiles inside its twin internal weapon bays. A photo accompanying the Lockheed release indicates that the aircraft was also carrying four additional pylons that were not loaded.

The fifth-generation fighter is designed to carry up to 18,000 pounds on 10 weapon stations. Four of those weapon stations are inside its two weapon bays, the rest are on each wing. The wing weapon stations would only be used when stealth is not a priority as external carriage would betray the jet to enemy radars.

F-35 Begins Flight Tests Equipped With External Missiles | Defense News | defensenews.com

 

[Apollyon]

F-35 with Gun Pod .....

 

[Godless-Kafir]

lol it does not even have room for a gun inside. They should have just worked with the harrier model to make it stealthy instead of this ducted fan type.

 

[asianobserve]

 

[asianobserve]

Marine Corps Aviation Introduces F-35B Lightning II Into Fleet | Aviation & Air Force News at DefenceTalk

 

[Armand2REP]

Japan: Delays, Price Jumps Jeopardize F-35 Order

TOKYO — Japan's defense chief said Feb. 29 the country may cancel its $4.7 billion order for the U.S.-built F-35 stealth jet if Washington fails to stick to the proposed price and deadlines.

Defense Minister Naoki Tanaka said a formal contract for the initial four units — out of a total of 42 jets — that Japan wants by March 2017 was expected to be signed before this summer.

But he told parliament: "If the situation comes to the point where (the U.S.) cannot work out the proposal by that time, we will have concerns for Japan's defense capability. We would have to look at either canceling the contract or opting for another model."

Japan in December chose Lockheed Martin's F-35 stealth jet for its next-generation mainstay fighter over two other jets — the Boeing-made F/A-18 Super Hornet and the Eurofighter Typhoon.

Tokyo plumped for the jet to replace its ageing fleet of F-4 fighters, despite a series of technical setbacks and fears that the as-yet unproven F-35 might be badly delayed.

With a price tag of about $113 million per jet, the F-35 is the most expensive weapons program in Pentagon history and has been plagued by cost overruns and technical delays.

Earlier this month, Japan's Defense Ministry sent a letter to the Pentagon asking it to keep the proposed price and deadlines for delivery.

Japan, which places its security alliance with the United States at the center of its foreign policy, has long depended on U.S. manufacturers for its military hardware.

Japan: Delays, Price Jumps Jeopardize F-35 Order | Defense News | defensenews.com

 

[Singh]

F-35A Lightning II Fighter To Begin Initial Operations​

The Aeronautical Systems Center issued a Military Flight Release today allowing the F-35A Lightning II fighter to begin initial operations at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida, U.S.


The announcement comes after an airworthiness board conducted an assessment that evaluated potential risks and the corresponding mitigation actions to conduct unmonitored flights.

"The Air Force, Joint Strike Fighter Program Office and other stakeholders have painstakingly followed established risk acceptance and mitigation processes to ensure the F-35A is ready," said Gen. Donald Hoffman, the commander of Air Force Materiel Command, the parent organization of ASC.

The initial F-35A flights will be limited, scripted, conducted within the restrictions and stipulations of the MFR and flown by qualified pilots, officials said.

- defenseworld. net/go/defensenews.jsp?catid=1&id=6663

 

[Singh]

Japan says they plan to cancel F-35 orders due to price rise, Norway thinks price won't change much. ?

=================


March 5 (Reuters) - Norway's No. 2 defense official said he was more upbeat about the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program than in a long time after visiting a test site in California last week and meeting with the eight other partners on the program.

Defense State Secretary Roger Ingebrigsten said on Monday that Norway was finalizing its plans to buy "approximately 50 fighters," but did not expect any significant cost increases to its order.

Lockheed Martin Corp is developing three variants of the radar-evading, supersonic fighter jet for the United States and eight partner countries - Canada, Britain, Australia, Turkey, Denmark, Norway, Italy and the Netherlands.

Senior U.S. officials last week met with partner countries and sought to reassure them that Washington remains committed to the program, despite its own plans to postpone orders for 179 planes for five years.

That decision, driven by U.S. budget pressures, could delay cost savings that will be realized once production is ramped up.

"We think that we are going to pay close to what we said we would in 2008," Ingebrigsten told Reuters by telephone after returning from his U.S. visit. "The main approach will be the same as it has been since 2008."

He declined to provide details ahead of the Norwegian government's submission to parliament in two weeks. Previous plans called for Norway to buy 56 aircraft for 61 billion Norwegian crown ($10.89 billion), in undiscounted 2011 crowns, or 72 billion crowns when a greater contingency is counted.

"I can't say we're going to do exactly what we said in 2008 but our plan is to procure approximately 50 fighters," he said.

The slowdown in U.S. orders and budget constraints at home have prompted some of the partners to rethink their own orders. Italy last month cut its planned buy of 131 planes by 30 percent and others may follow suit.

U.S. officials insist Washington still plans to spend $382 billion to buy a total of 2,443 fighters for the Air Force, the Navy and Marine Corps, the costliest weapons program ever.

TEST SITE, FIRST FLIGHT

Ingebrigsten led a Norwegian delegation to Edwards Air Force Base in California last week to visit one of two key test sites for the new fighter.

"I haven't been so optimistic related to the F-35 ... for a long time," Ingebrigsten said.

He said Friday's meeting of officials from the Pentagon, Lockheed, and the eight partner countries was useful, with all sides citing their continued support of the program. Canada hosted the meeting at its embassy in Washington.

He praised U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and his deputy, Ashton Carter, who made a brief appearance at the meeting, for their willingness to be transparent about the program, and said U.S-Norwegian bilateral ties were strong.

The member countries will finalize their purchase plans ahead of a formal military-level March 14-15 meeting in Australia of representatives from all nine countries.

Ingebrigsten said delays or cuts in orders from the United States and Italy, among others, could be bad news for the program, but they would be partially offset by orders from Japan, and possibly South Korea and Singapore in coming years.

Separately, officials at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida said the F-35A, the conventional takeoff and landing variant developed for the U.S. Air Force, would have its first flight at the base on Tuesday morning.

Test pilots will fly the planes initially as they test out the syllabus for the program that will be used to teach Air Force and Marine Corps pilots to fly the new plane.

Norway upbeat on F-35; Florida test flight set | Reuters